SO, picturing Donald Trump riding a 2018 Softtail Slim cruising the mall in Washington DC with a bright orange headband.
F-N A! MAN! F-N A! I beleive you’d get your ass kicked for that. (Office Space Reference)
Donald Trump is saving ‘Merica! USA FIRST! Well, in the process, he’s also making it harder for other countries to support our products. Globally, the motorcycle industry NEEDS more than the USA. Especially Harley. Europe and ASIA are …. HUGE .. in the success of Harley.
To be clear, the decline & struggles of Harley Davidson did not begin this year. Going back to 2014, their stock was touching $72 a share. As of June 2018, HOG stock is sitting at less than $42. There has been a slow and steady decline in HOG for a few years. I’ve talked a bit in prior posts about some factors. Seriously Harley. Your focus and cost is just TOO HIGH!.
Is it because the majority of the bikes are as big as a small Econoline Van? Is it because they gaudy and overstaffed stores all across the United States? Or is it because the younger generations don’t have 20K to thrown down on a bike?
Its likely all three.
They produce about a handful of bikes that are less than 10K to get out the door. I say about three because the difference between a Street Rod and a Street 750 is negligible. Other than that, a Sportster is a Sportster. Swap the bars and seat and you have a new bike ??(RIGHT??) Of all the models and “FREEDOM” they sell, they are NOT giving many options for new riders and not making it easy to get into motorcycles.
As much as i’d love to be against TRUMP, he’s right in that Harley is using recent tariffs as an excuse. They need to hit the reset on their marketing, brick and mortar structure, and model costs.
Bigger is not always better. Harley needs more creativity and less cost.
Lets hope that 2018 they can turn the corner
Have a thought on Harley and their future? Share it in the comments.